Scrooge acquires magical love arrows that once belonged to a goddess.
This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- Added Alliterative Appeal: These lines contain a lot of similar sounds.Scrooge: Now, keep your peepers peeled for priceless plunder.
Launchpad: Personally, I'd prefer to protect my posterior from predators. - Armor-Piercing Response: An almost literal one; when Launchpad announces he's going to go back to live with the shark, Webby points out that living underwater means having to give up being a pilot. Launchpad freezes, stutters, practically passes out and is normal when he re-awakens.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The towering Vulcan shows up to attack Scrooge near the end of the episode.
- Awful Wedded Life: Aphroducky and Vulcan are married, but if what happens during the episode indicates anything, they often argue and (in Aphroducky's case) even throw things at each other.
- Big "WHAT?!": When Scrooge announces that he's going to give up his fortune to be with Aphroducky, this is the response from both the kids and Vulcan.
- Blinding Camera Flash: Accidentally invoked by one of the triplets. A shark sneaks up on Webby while she's posing with a statue, but the camera's flash stuns it before it can attack.
- Bullying a Dragon: Given that the episode's conflict involves Scrooge ending up with something that belongs to an Olympian, it's a given that much of the cast found themselves getting into fights with extremely powerful beings.
- Scrooge refuses to return Aphroducky's arrows, pushes her out of his office, and shuts the door. He doesn't change his mind about giving the arrows back even after Aphroducky has blasted the door in with her magic. Aphroducky easily overpowers him.
- Webby sticks Aphroducky with one of the arrows to make her stop messing with Scrooge. Later, she and the boys attempt to replicate it to undo the spell (and succeed at the end).
- Launchpad shoots Vulcan in the face with a missile when he arrives at McDuck mansion to kill Scrooge for planning to marry Aphroducky. Thankfully, Vulcan only grabs and throws his plane away, resulting in Launchpad crashing but ending up unharmed.
- Denied Food as Punishment: An example of the lighter version; Scrooge punishes the nephews and Webby with a month with no dessert for sneaking along against orders.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Subverted. Scrooge takes down Vulcan by making him slip on some building materials...but a few seconds later, he's up again and madder than ever.
- Draw Aggro:
- Launchpad attempts to distract the shark, telling Scrooge to save the boys and Webby.
- Later, Launchpad blasts Vulcan in the face with a missile when the Olympian tries to kill Scrooge while he's rescuing the kids and tells Scrooge to run while he keeps Vulcan distracted.
- Scrooge draws Vulcan after him in order to lure him close to the construction site, where he uses some building supplies to trip him up and tumble him into the pit the workers dug in the lawn.
- Either/Or Title: The episode is called "A DuckTales Valentine" or "Amour or Less."
- Extra! Extra! Read All About It!: A newsboy yelling a headline about Scrooge and Aphroducky's relationship appears midway through the episode.
- Fear Is the Appropriate Response: Upon reaching the position of the sunken temple, Launchpad doesn't want to get into the water, having heard the area is shark infested. When Scrooge tries to goad him into it by implying he's scared, Launchpad responds that some things make perfect sense to be afraid of.
- Forbidden Love: Under the effects of Cupid's arrows, Launchpad falls in love with a shark. Luckily, the kids and Scrooge, who are very aware that Launchpad's attraction would result in a gruesome death, keep him away from it.
- From Bad to Worse: Aphroducky being struck with her own arrow causing her to become a Stalker with a Crush to Scrooge was bad enough, but when the kids attempt to reset the spell by poking her again, they accidentally get Scrooge instead, causing him to return Aphroducky's affection.
- The Glomp: Webby tackle-hugs Scrooge when she thinks they can't break the spell and he's actually going to leave them permanently to live on Olympus with Aphroducky.
- Interspecies Romance: Invoked and Played for Laughs: while under the effects of the arrows' love spell, Launchpad winds up falling for a shark.
- Irony: Aphroducky, the Goddess of Love, has an Awful Wedded Life with her own husband... at least until the triplets and Webby use the arrows on her to make her love him instead of Scrooge.
- Kissing Under the Influence:
- After being jabbed with one of the love arrows, Launchpad lays a big kiss on the shark as it swims toward him. Luckily, the shark found this disgusting, which gave Scrooge and the kids a chance to trap it.
- Aphroducky also lays a number of kisses on Scrooge after getting stuck by one of the arrows.
- Lame Pun Reaction: Huey, Dewey and Louie find a chest in a sunken Greek temple. When they wonder what the inscription on the lid is supposed to mean, Launchpad quips "It's Greek to me!" There's an awkward pause, after which Launchpad says that somebody had to say it.
- Literal Metaphor: After Launchpad comes downstairs to announce he's leaving to offer the shark his hand in marriage, Louie remarks that she'll take his hand and the rest of the arm.
- Love Potion: Getting poked with one of Aphroducky's love arrows can make a person fall in love with a being in the vicinity, to the point of overriding species barriers and all but very powerful personality traits.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Launchpad digs a shield out of the ruins to defend himself before drawing the shark's attention. He doesn't seem to think it will really help all that much, though.
- May–December Romance: Exaggerated; Aphroducky looks like a young woman, and Scrooge is an older man. However, given that Aphroducky is an Olympian, she's actually much older than she looks, which would make Scrooge the "May" part of the relationship.
- Most Definitely Not Accompanying Us: Scrooge refuses to let the nephews and Webby come with him and Launchpad on the latest treasure hunt, saying it's too dangerous. For some reason, he ends up letting them come on the dive anyway after they sneak into the plane.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: When Vulcan sees the spellbound Scrooge declare that he's going to marry Aphroducky, he charges off for Duckburg in a homicidal rage.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- Webby accidentally causes Aphroducky to fall in love with Scrooge by jabbing her with one of the arrows to make her leave him alone.
- Later, the kids attempt to jab Aphroducky again to undo the spell, but accidentally catch Scrooge instead, leading to him falling in love with Aphroducky.
- Oh, Crap!: The kids when they realize they accidentally stuck Scrooge with one of Cupid's arrows instead of Aphroducky, their intended target.
- Opinion Flip Flop: After blasting Vulcan into (momentary) submission, the still-enchanted Aphroducky tells him she loves Scrooge instead of him. Midway through the telling-off, however, the kids sneak up and poke her with the arrows to reset the spell, causing a Pain-Powered Leap. When she comes back down, Vulcan is the first person she sees and she grabs him for a long, passionate kiss.
- Papa Wolf:
- When the shark attacks the party, Launchpad draws its attention to himself so that Scrooge can get the triplets and Webby back to safety.
- This also winds up being what breaks Scrooge's enchantment; hearing the kids scream in terror caused his protective instincts to override the love spell.
- Platonic Declaration of Love:
- During the kids' final meeting with Scrooge before he plans to go off with Aphroducky, Louie tells Scrooge they love him, but they can't follow him to Mt. Olympus. This begins to rattle the enchantment.
- Before the spell shatters, Scrooge says he loves the kids as he tries to sort out what to do.
- Plot Allergy: The kids convince Aphroducky that she's allergic to money so that Scrooge will be forced to choose between her and his fortune. Unfortunately, it doesn't have the desired effect.
- The Power of Family: The only way to break the love spell effect of the arrows is force someone to make a Sadistic Choice between the target of their affection under the spell and something they truly love. Launchpad's is broken after he's forced to choose between moving under the sea with a shark (don't ask) and never flying again. The nephews try to use this on Scrooge by forcing him to choose between Aphroducky and his wealth, but it surprisingly fails. It's only after facing the dilemma of marrying Aphroducky and leaving the kids forever that the spell really wavers, and it doesn't break until he hears the boys and Webby scream during the final confrontation.
- Rescue Reversal: Launchpad distracts the shark to save the kids and is soon completely at its mercy. Luckily, Scrooge and the kids didn't scram as he told them to and they push a stone basin over the shark, trapping it.
- Running Away From Home: Webby plans to run away from home after Scrooge becomes so obsessed with Aphroducky that he no longer pays much attention to the kids. When Launchpad comes downstairs and announces he's leaving, she asks him if he's running away too.
- Shout-Out:
- Vulcan and Aphroducky act like Ralph and Alice Kramden.
- When Vulcan appears at the McDuck estate looking for Aphroducky, Launchpad quips "Live long and prosper".
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: Scrooge and Aphroducky under the love spell use sweet (and sometimes quite syrupy) pet names, gaze into each other's eyes, and otherwise demonstrate such obsession with one another that it disgusts the triplets (despite them having no aversion to Valentine's Day).
- There Was a Door: After learning that Scrooge plans to marry Aphroducky, Vulcan angrily stomps out of his living room and deliberately smashes through the wall.
- Threatening Shark: Launchpad is worried, having heard that the area where the treasure is supposed to be is shark-infested, and sure enough, a shark turns up to attack the group while they're underwater. It's not just any shark, either — it's a ferocious giant large enough to eat most of the cast in one bite.
- Tunnel King: The gigantic Vulcan travels this way, coming up at one point to ask a couple the way to Duckburg.
- Valentine's Day Episode: Having been stuck with a magic arrow, Scrooge falls in love with Aphroducky, the mythological Goddess of Love. This is considered one of the less popular episodes of DuckTales, and that's an understatement.
- Valentine's Day Vitriol: Scrooge gets grumpy at the mention of the upcoming holiday, calling it sappy garbage and ranting that the Worthless Treasure Twist could have come from a schmaltzy Valentine.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: The enchanted Aphroducky flings some of her own magic at Vulcan after he attacks Scrooge. This winds up being helpful as her own magic is the only thing that really has an effect on him.
- Weirder Than Usual: Dewey asks if the love-struck Launchpad is sane enough to be piloting on their flight home. When Scrooge attempts to pass the dizziness off as nothing that the pilot doesn't usually have to deal with, Louie points out that trying to kiss a humongous predator is unusual even for Launchpad.
- Worthless Treasure Twist: Scrooge is furious to find that a chest in some sunken Grecian ruins purportedly containing "the greatest treasure" has nothing in it but a Greek word for "love" written on the bottom (for the record, it's philia, which is platonic love).
